Metro 510 Workforce Housing Now Complete, Welcomes Renters

By Georgiana Mihaila, Associate Editor
The new six-story Metro 510 is now complete, providing a viable option for renters that would benefit from the convenience of downtown living but cannot afford a place in high-rise condo towers. The community is a [...]

The new six-story Metro 510 is now complete, providing a viable option for renters that would benefit from the convenience of downtown living but cannot afford a place in high-rise condo towers. The community is a unique project for the area, aiming at attracting downtown employees that would normally not be able to afford the luxury of living downtown: hospital employees, restaurant and hotel workers, and hair stylists, for instance, that usually have to commute.

Financed in part with federal stimulus money and through tax credits from the Florida Housing Finance Corp., Metro 510 offers opportunities for renters whose household incomes fall below a threshold of $23,760 for a single person and $33,360 for a family of six; some other conditions have to be met: Applicants must be employed, have a good credit history, no criminal record, while also being smoke and pet free.

The contemporary mid-rise, designed by Urban Studio Architects, is located at 510 E. Harrison St., near the Marion Street Transit Center on the north side of downtown. Its 120 workforce apartments will go for approximately 81 cents a square foot, as opposed to the downtown residential rental average of $1.48 per square foot, according to the Tampa Bay Business Journal. A one-bedroom unit at Metro 510 would go for $588 per month, a two-bedroom with two baths for $701, while a three-bedroom unit with two baths will cost $808. The apartments feature granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and designer floors and fixtures. According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, the project includes the renovation of the 1914 St. Paul AME Church as a 15,000-square-foot community center and offices.